MORGANTOWN, W.Va. With a driver and his bulldozer missing in a thick, dark lake of coal slurry, a mine safety expert and critic of the coal industry says regulators are ignoring stricter construction standards that could prevent more failures at hundreds of similar dam-like structures around the country.

The Interior Department has advanced a proposal that would ease restrictions on dumping mountaintop mining waste near rivers and streams, modifying protections that have been in place -- though often circumvented by mining companies -- for a quarter-century.

A coalition of West Virginia churches on Thursday sharply criticized a Bush administration-backed proposal to relax restrictions preventing mining activity near waterways, on the grounds it would be an affront to God's creation.

Bob Pruett approached a conference table and noticed the color of the tablecloth - West Virginia University gold. The former Marshall football coach caught himself, grabbed his soda and looked for another place to sit.